Gender Expression isn’t a Purim Costume
On Purim, many people will cross-dress and dress up as someone of a different gender. This year, rethink it.
The Adult Issues - and Lessons - of Purim
During the 40 years that I served as a congregational rabbi, Purim evolved from a pleasant celebration into what has become, in my view, almost a third High Holiday.
Unplugging to Connect to the Outside World, Jewishly and Otherwise
There’s an unavoidable irony inherent in tabling on a college campus for the National Day of Unplugging: namely, the majority of students who ignore me as they pass me by with headphones in their ears and glowing smartphones before their eyes.
To This Moment: A Poem about Joy
On the day before Purim, in the Hebrew month of Adar, Jewish musician Neshama Carlebach posted the following on Facebook:
Green Eggs and Hamantaschen: Creative Purim Gift Bags Bring a Community Together
Purim at Or Chadash, in Flemington, N.J., includes many of the usual traditions: putting on a Purim spiel (play), using boxes of pasta as gragers, baking hamantaschen with our students, reading the Megillah, and hosting a spectacular carnival that features Esther’s Salon, Mordecai’s March Madness, a photo booth, and plenty of prizes and food.
The Torah of Voting - Even When Election Day Falls on a Jewish Holiday
This year, Canada’s federal election will take place on October 21, at the same time as the holidays of Sh’mini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.
When You Just Don’t Feel Joyful on Simchat Torah, Remember...
With every seemingly worse piece of bad news littering our social media feeds and our news cycles and in the streets right before our very eyes, it’s fair to wonder: What if we simply can’t be happy, even when we’re commanded to? What if you just don’t feel like dancing?
Oven-Fried Curried Tofu
Reflecting on Simchat Torah
Thanks to social media and electronic devices you can check in on Foursquare and read the Mishkan T'filah prayer book on a handheld device at the same time. Yet for all the modern inventions, the Torah remains unaffected.
Rethinking the Holy Days
I’ve come to the conclusion we need to change the date of Simchat Torah. Our Jewish festivals must be re-envisioned as inspirational community gatherings of joyful spiritual Jewish celebration. Every single festival needs to be a time of great community involvement and meaning.